DU student commits suicide in hostel room (Lead)

A 21-year-old post-graduate student of Delhi University allegedly hanged himself to death in his hostel room Friday, a police official said.

"Shashi Shekhar, hailing from Bihar's Nalanda district, was staying alone in room number 111 of Hindu College hostel on the university campus. He was found dead by one of the inmates of the hostel around 9.30 a.m. today (Friday) and he immediately informed the warden," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sindhu Pillai told IANS.

The body has been sent for autopsy to the Bara Hindu Rao Hospital in north Delhi. The student's family members have been informed about his tragic death, police said.

"Shekhar's father is a professor in the Nalanda University in Bihar," a police official said.

"A class lecture notebook has been recovered from Shekhar's room. On one page he has written - 'It's my story: Can we do nothing for the dead? For a long time there has been no answer to the question'. The note is followed by his signature in Hindi," Pillai said.

"Shekhar topped his Bachelor of Arts (Hindi Literature) class. He won the gold medal and received a scholarship to pursue Master of Arts (Hindi Literature) in 2011," Hindu College principal Praduman Kumar said.

Shekhar was last seen around 2 a.m. in the hostel. Later, he went into his room, a hosteller said.

"A classmate telephoned him in the morning. But when Shekhar did not pick up the phone, she enquired from an hostel inmate, Deepak, about him. Deepak knocked on Shekhar's door. On not getting any response, he peeked through the window and found Shekhar hanging from the ceiling fan," said a hostel staff, who did not wish to be identified.

"We are investigating the suicide from all possible angles," a police official said.